Georgia’s Implied Consent Law Struck Down

A new Georgia law that required any motorists involved in serious accidents to submit to drug testing or automatically lose their driver's license for a year has been struck down by the state Supreme Court.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that the state's implied consent statue "authorizes a search and seizure without probable cause" and therefore violates the state and federal constitution.

Under the provision the court struck down, any motorist involved in a auto mishap in which serious injury or death occurred was presumed to have given prior consent to a chemical test to determine the presence or alcohol or other drugs. The flaw, the court said, is that the statute compels chemical testing regardless of whether there is any independent reason to believe they are impaired.

The ruling sent local prosecutors scrambling to determine how many current DUI cases may be affected. Law enforcement officials said the ruling would force them to return to the practice of asking motorists for consent to blood tests in cases where injury has occurred.

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